The corrals and arena in Kearny now belong to the General Kearny Sheriff’s Posse.
Good things are happening along the Gila. The Kearny corrals and the rodeo arena are now the property of the General Kearny Sheriff’s Posse. The purchase made by the group totals about 60 acres of land. Tim and Angie Gotto reported that the ownership of the land has been desired for a long time, and funds had been set aside for this purpose.
The land was owned by the Galbreath Corporation, which made Kearny the first planned community in Arizona.
The Posse is laying plans for increased use of the arena by sponsoring more youth-friendly events and working with organizers for traditional rodeo events. It is good to see more ownership in local hands.
Three volunteers stand ready to distribute food (L-R) Mike Dinwiddie, Diana Herrick, and Jay Collins.
Local people assisted The United Food Bank this past Friday during its visit to the Kelly Haddad building (the county courthouse) in Kearny. I think there were more people picking up food this time, which is good. Bernie Zornacki continues his spirited oversight of the operation. Mona Benavides was assisting a person from the food bank who is working on a newer, faster way of getting food into the hands of people. Familiar faces around the community were passing out food and many people were assisting others in carrying loads to their vehicles.
Mona Benavides keeping records for food bank.
As I mentioned in last week’s column, anyone can serve as a proxy for people who cannot physically be present to receive food. The food bank has a form to be filled out and to be signed by the person who needs the food, authorizing the proxy to come to the distribution.
Bernie Zornacki continues his role as the heart and soul of food distribution.
Forms are available at the town halls in Kearny, Hayden, Winkelman, and Mammoth. I think this would be a great opportunity for church groups and other groups to reach out to shut-ins and the unemployed. Please pick up a proxy sheet.
And now, my big apology: The name of the sponsoring organization is The United Food Bank, and not St. Mary’s Food Bank as I wrote last week. These slips of the brain are embarrassing.
The Kearny and Hayden town councils will hold their regular meetings on Monday, July 16. The agendas will be posted by Friday, July 13.
This hot summer has dried out the whole area. Grasses and weeds are dead. The monsoons will be coming, but they bring the danger of lightning-caused fires. My recent visits to the Gila River show the tamarisk plants have returned with their terrible vulnerability to fire. Our own yards might need care to prevent fire from spreading from house to house. The last residential fire in Kearny started in a back yard. Please do what you can do to make our towns and residential areas safer.